Coloman I of Hungary

Coloman I "the Bookish" of Hungary (1060-3 February 1116) was the King of Hungary from 1095 to 1116 and King of Croatia from 1097 to 1116. Physically challenged, his father King Laszlo I of Hungary intended to make him a church servant. Coloman took power in 1095 from Almos, his younger brother, and he proceeded to annihilate King Petar Svacic of Croatia in 1097 and eradicate many unauthorized Crusading groups that traversed his country.

Biography
Coloman was the first son of King Geza I of Hungary of Hungary and his wife Sophia of Hungary. Still under-age when his father died in 1077, Coloman watched as his uncle Laszlo the Honourable became the new king. He served as a general of his uncle, although he was intended to be a priest due to physical challenges. Coloman was responsible for the capture of Wallachia from the rebellious Wallachian barons in the 1080s, and by the time his father died in 1095, Hungary had become a sizeable kingdom.

His younger brother Almos proceeded to take the throne against Coloman's will, as he was a man more fit for the job. Coloman became king of Hungary under unknown circumstances, but gave Almos a third of Hungary's lands. He proceeded to face the German and Franconian armies of crusaders that moved overland to attack Turkey and Syria, and although he let five armies pass through, he eliminated groups of crusaders that were unauthorized. In 1097, a year later, he crushed King Petar Svacic's Croatians and became the King of Croatia, crowned by Croatian nobles. He died in 1116.